Why does Outlook keep asking for my password when it's correct?

Most often because Windows or Outlook is replaying an old, cached credential rather than sending your fresh input to Microsoft, which is why retyping the same correct password does not help. The other common causes are an account-side change, such as an admin-forced password reset or an MFA re-registration requirement, or a genuine Microsoft service issue affecting more than one person. Working through the steps in order, starting with whether it's just you, isolates which one it is.

How do I know if it's a Microsoft outage or just my computer?

Ask a colleague on the same email domain whether they're seeing the same thing, and check the public Microsoft 365 status information, which anyone can view without an admin account. An administrator can also check the service health area of the Microsoft 365 admin center for active incidents affecting Exchange Online.

Is it safe to clear my saved passwords in Windows Credential Manager?

Yes, on a personal or lightly managed device. Removing Office or Outlook-related entries simply forces Outlook to ask for your credentials fresh rather than replaying a stale set. On a fully managed business laptop, some organisations push credentials back down through policy, so this step is better handled with IT support rather than repeated alone.

What does it mean if Outlook asks me to set up multi-factor authentication again?

It usually means an administrator has reset your security info, often for a legitimate reason such as a lost or replaced phone, or a suspicious sign-in attempt on the account. This needs to be completed properly with IT support. Dismissing the prompt repeatedly rather than completing it is a common cause of an ongoing Outlook prompt loop.

Will rebuilding my Outlook profile delete my emails?

No. Email stored in an Exchange Online mailbox lives on Microsoft's servers, and a new profile simply re-downloads it. The exception is anything that only ever existed locally on that device, such as an unsent draft or an older personal archive file not backed by the server, so it's worth having an administrator check for local-only data before rebuilding a profile.

How long should I try to fix this myself before calling IT support?

The first three steps in this guide, checking whether it's just you, checking the network, and testing sign-in through a browser, are quick and safe to try alone, generally a few minutes each. If the browser sign-in itself fails, or you're asked to re-register MFA, stop there and involve an administrator rather than continuing to troubleshoot the Outlook application.

Outlook disconnected or asking for your password: the fix path

The status bar reads 'Disconnected' or 'Need Password', and the sign-in box reappears the moment you close it, even though the password you are typing is correct. It is one of the most common tickets an IT inbox receives, and one of the most frustrating for the person sitting in front of it, because retyping the same password rarely fixes it. That is because the message in the Outlook status bar rarely means what it appears to say.

There are several distinct causes, and they are not equally easy to fix. Working through them in the wrong order wastes time: rebuilding a profile when the real problem is a short Microsoft outage, or waiting on IT support when the fix is a stale entry in Windows' own credential store. This guide works through the causes in order, cheapest and safest first, and marks which steps a user can try alone versus which need an administrator.

Step 1: work out if it is just you

Before touching any settings, find out how wide the problem is. If several people in the office are seeing the same Disconnected or Need Password message at the same time, this is very likely a Microsoft service issue rather than anything wrong with one account or one PC, and no amount of clearing cached passwords will fix it from your end.

1Ask a colleague on the same email domain whether Outlook is behaving normally for them. If more than one person is affected, treat it as a service issue first and hold off on account-level changes.
2Check the public Microsoft 365 status information, which does not require an admin account and is the fastest way to rule this out if you work alone or IT support is unavailable outside business hours.
3An administrator can get a more detailed picture in the Microsoft 365 admin center's service health area, which lists active incidents or advisories for Exchange Online and related services, usually with an estimated resolution time.

If there is a known incident, the honest answer is to wait. Repeatedly signing out and back in during an active outage does not speed anything up, and can add duplicate sign-in attempts to untangle once it clears.

Step 2: rule out the network before the account

The second cheapest check is the connection itself. Outlook needs a stable path to Microsoft's servers, and a shaky one produces exactly the same Disconnected status as a genuine credential problem.

Confirm the device has a working internet connection generally, by trying a website or another cloud app.
Check whether Outlook has been switched to Work Offline. In classic Outlook this toggle lives on the Send/Receive ribbon tab; when it is on, Outlook deliberately stops talking to the server, and the status bar shows it as offline or disconnected.
If you are on a VPN, a hotel or airport wifi login screen, or a restrictive guest network, try a mobile hotspot for comparison. Some corporate and public networks quietly block the ports Outlook needs.
Restart the device. It sounds basic, but a surprising share of one-off disconnected states clear on restart, because it forces a fresh network and authentication handshake.

Step 3: check the account itself, outside Outlook

This step tells you whether the problem lives in the account or in the Outlook application, and it is worth doing before anything more invasive. Open a web browser, go directly to the Microsoft 365 sign-in page, and sign in with the same account.

If the browser sign-in also fails or asks for something unexpected, the problem is with the account itself: a changed or expired password, a locked account, or a security check being enforced. This needs an administrator, because Outlook is not the thing to fix.
If the browser sign-in works cleanly, the account is fine and the fault sits with the Outlook application or the device's stored credentials, which moves you to Step 4.
Watch for a prompt to re-register your multi-factor authentication (MFA) method, such as setting up an authenticator app again from scratch. This usually means an administrator has reset your security info, often for a genuine reason such as a lost phone or a suspicious sign-in. Complete it with IT support rather than dismissing it, since dismissing it repeatedly is what produces an endless prompt loop.

A user can safely do this whole step alone. What happens next depends on the result: a working browser sign-in means the next steps are still self-service, while a failing one means it is time to raise a ticket rather than keep trying.

Step 4: clear the cached credentials Windows is holding

If the account works fine in a browser but Outlook still will not settle, Windows is very likely offering Outlook an old, cached set of credentials instead of asking fresh. Windows stores these in Credential Manager.

1Open Control Panel and go to Credential Manager, or search for it directly from the Start menu.
2Select Windows Credentials.
3Look for entries referencing Office, Outlook, or the organisation's email domain. They are often labelled with a name similar to the Office product itself.
4Remove those entries.
5Restart Outlook. It should now prompt fresh and accept the current password.

This is safe on a personal or lightly managed device. On a fully managed business laptop, some organisations restrict Credential Manager or push credentials back down automatically, in which case this step needs an administrator rather than being repeated fruitlessly.

Step 5: rebuild the Outlook profile

If the account signs in cleanly everywhere else and cached credentials have already been cleared, but Outlook still will not stay connected, the profile itself, the local configuration linking account settings to the offline data file, may be damaged. This is the most invasive step here and best done with, or by, an administrator, particularly on a managed device with a large mailbox or one under a compliance hold.

Rebuilding a profile means creating a new one and letting Outlook re-download the mailbox, rather than editing the broken one. On a large mailbox this can take time and bandwidth, which is why it's left until the earlier steps are ruled out. Classic Outlook for Windows keeps a profile manager under the Mail item in Control Panel; the newer, redesigned Outlook for Windows does not use the same profile model at all, so this step does not apply to it.

Which steps are yours, and which need an administrator

Self-serve safely: checking whether colleagues are affected, checking public status information, toggling Work Offline, restarting the device, signing in through a browser to test the account, and clearing Credential Manager entries on an unmanaged device.
Needs an administrator: anything the browser sign-in test fails on, any MFA re-registration prompt, cached-credential clearing on a managed device where policy pushes settings back automatically, and any Outlook profile rebuild on a business device with a large mailbox or one under a legal or compliance hold.

The dividing line here is about risk, not difficulty. None of the early steps can make things worse. The later ones, touching account security or rebuilding a profile under a retention hold, can, so they are worth handing to someone who manages the tenant day to day.